Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
“Thanks for letting me come and hang out. Kaden was insistent he wanted to see Micah, and the guys are busy, and I just didn’t want to listen to him fuss anymore. I’m so queasy all the time.” Lars patted his belly.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do?”
Kieran felt awful.
Lars was really a very good friend. It was sort of funny because Lars was everyone’s really good friend. It was like the man’s superpower, being a buddy.
“No.” Lars leaned forward. “I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant, so I don’t think there’s anything that can be done.”
He blinked, shocked as hell. “Oh, congratulations.”
“Thanks. Thank you, it’s a good time, I think. You know, Kaden’s going to be a full-on toddler by the time this little one comes, and it seems like good spacing…”
Kieran nodded, wanting to reassure his friend, loving that he was part of a community where he could be trusted to know these things. “It really is a good time. Lachlan’s interested in having another baby as well.”
“Is he? Well, that’s nice. Are you? I mean, Lachlan is important, of course.” Lars rolled his eyes. “But you’re the one who’s going to have to carry, so really your opinion counts more.”
Kieran cracked up. “Oh, I know, I know. Yeah.” He rolled his eyes and leaned in, like he was worried the little ones playing in the ball pit could hear. “Can I tell you a secret?”
Lars nodded. “Of course.”
“I kind of wish it would just happen so that I could be like, ‘Oh, I got pregnant,’ and I didn’t have to—”
Lars looked at him, one eyebrow arched, and his cheeks heated.
“I know, I know, so I don’t have to be responsible. It’s so stupid, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be neat if I just happened to get pregnant again, and it just happened to happen, and I could be like, ‘Oh Lachlan, guess what? We got pregnant’?”
Lars cracked up. “Or you could just tell him, ‘Let’s try to have a baby,’ and then, when you’re in heat, have lots of sex. I’ll watch Micah for you. That would be a perfect excuse to actually leave the house.”
He glared at Lars. “I know, I know! I just can’t.”
“You’re going to have to, Kieran. If you don’t ever leave this house, that’s totally up to you, but honey, Micah is going to have to go and meet other people. It’s not going to be that much longer before he goes to school.” Lars made sense. It was just so damn scary.
“I’m trying. I understand all of that rationally, but I just—” He took a deep breath. “I want to go flying with Lachlan. That will be my first step.”
“Oh, how exciting is that? Oh, that’s so cool. I mean, seriously, it’s incredible. I wish I could fly with Bryant for the first time again.”
Kieran chuckled softly. “Thanks. I want to see everything, the entire wing. I don’t suppose you would watch Micah while we did that?”
Lars grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Of course I would. No question.”
Kieran nodded. He knew that. While Lachlan was the one who’d taken them in and healed them, and Bryant had stood up to the assassin, it had been Lars and Samuel who’d removed the threat to the wing that had followed Kieran in. The baby was safe. No problem at all.
“I appreciate it. I think first he’s going to fly with Bryant because they’re feeling a little disconnected again. Those two, I swear. They just need to learn how to communicate like something besides big chested, bumping alphas.”
Lars laughed out loud. “They really do, but that’s easier said than done, isn’t it? Alphas are wonderful and incredibly hot but not particularly communicate-y.”
“No, but Lachlan is gentle. He hasn’t insisted I move into his rooms yet.”
Lars shrugged. “Maybe you need rooms all your own.”
“Perhaps. Maybe I’m just allowing myself to be small.”
“Maybe. But even if you move in with him, keep your rooms. Make them into a bigger studio or a craft room or just a place to go be fully you. Nap there. I have that.”
“Oh, a crafting suite might be just the thing. I love to create art.”
“You do. So do I. And you’d have room for a kids’ table too. Contain that glitter in one area,” Lars murmured sagely.
“Glitter…” He shuddered.
“I know, right? It is not pretty. Ours are too young happily, but Grant is not. Gods help us.”
He blinked, lowered his chin. “Grant could spray glitter all over the entire house with a thought. The whole house.”
“I know it’s a horrifying thought, isn’t it? We try to control that and let him know that restraint is important.”
“We do because oh my goddess…” He could just see that. Poor Lachlan would lose his mind. Well, he really wouldn’t but he would be cleaning the castle along with Alban for weeks. “Poor Samuel.”
“Samuel can hold his own. He’s so damn calm, but not only that? He’s smart.”
“He is.” Kieran liked him so much too. Oh, everyone he’d met in the wing was dear. They really were.
“Grant’s a good boy. He’s just…”
Kieran winked over. “A little boy?”
“Yeah. he’s a little boy, and he’s learning all about what he needs to do.” Lars shrugged. “I think he’s going to take over for Logan at some point, like a hundred years from now.”
Kieran arched an eyebrow. “Really, you think so?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Not Kaden?” That was surprising. He thought Lars would be eager to have a little guardian.
“Well, I have no idea what kind of a little boy Kaden is going to be, but we’ve got Grant. We’ve got the twins and Mari and Ari could possibly eat someone…”
Oh, he hoped he hadn’t hurt Lars’s feeling. “I didn’t mean any offense. I just thought, with two guardian parents, that’s all—”
“I understand, but sometimes that surprises you, right? Kaden may turn out to be a healer or some kind of shaman or something.” Lars spread his hands. “It’s like you say about Micah. Who knows what he might do?”
“True enough. I can’t tell you how much it means to me, though, that you come over and have play dates and spend some time with me. I really appreciate it. I feel like I’m getting to know the wing through you and that’s going to make me brave.”
Lars’s expression softened. “I’m so glad to hear that. I want you to be brave. I want you to feel as though this is your home. I want you to feel like you can come out at any time.”
He beamed at Lars, then dared to hug his friend tight. “Thank you, friend. I want to explore the wing.”
“Then you will. But start with flying with your mate. He can give you an overview.” Lars stretched. “Okay. I might be hungry now.”
“Then we should all have lunch. Feed your new baby.”
Lars nodded. “That sounds perfect.”
It did to him too. In fact, his life was really, really good. Though he did think he might re-visit the baby discussion with Lachlan so when he went into heat it would be a non-issue.
They were both adults. He could just be honest.
He wanted another baby. He wanted to have a baby with Lachlan.
All he had to do was ask if Lachlan was ready as well.